Wright State faculty union members protest on campus. Photographer: Soham Parikh/The Guardian
On Wednesday, Jan. 23, Wright State’s Student Government Association sent out an email to both administration and faculty union executive committee to bring them to the table to express concerns.
In a letter that was sent to the two parties, SGA President Daniel Palmer asked for leaders to come together Thursday to meet with their organization.
“In this unprecedented situation facing our campus community and university, our mission statement has never been more relevant. Students have expressed their deep concerns. We hear them, and we share them. The current strike taking place at Wright State negatively impacts our students both inside and outside of the classroom. It is now our responsibility to go above and beyond what would typically be expected of the SGA in order to fulfill our mission to the student body,” Palmer said in the letter.
Although administration accepted the offer to meet with SGA leaders, members of the AAUP-WSU executive committee rejected it.
At a Jan. 23 press conference, Palmer advised the union to rethink their decision not to meet. He also advised students not to withdraw from the university.
The AAUP-WSU responded to SGA’s invite explaining their rejection.
”We are very sorry that we cannot attend the meeting tomorrow. We deeply appreciate the students’ concerns and efforts to intercede. At this moment, however, a Federal Mediator has been assigned to the dispute and so it would be inappropriate for us to participate in a mediation by a group not sanctioned by the State Employment Relations Board,” according to a release by the faculty union.
According to the release the AAUP-WSU stated they would sign an agreement pledging to withdraw the ULP upon a contract ratified by both parties.
“Again, thank you for the time and energy that the SGA has invested in trying to bring a resolution. We know how hard you work for your constituents,” the executive committee stated in the release.
On Jan. 14, Wright State faculty union announced in a press release they would authorize a strike and on Tuesday, Jan. 22, they began to picket in front of the university at four different locations. Members of the Wright State chapter of American Association of University Professors voted with 85 percent of its voters authorizing a strike.
“Our members have voted to reject not only the language itself but the administration/Board’s skewed idea of negotiation, in which their proposals cannot be discussed but can, at most, be traded off against one another. That is not fair dealing in any sense of the phrase,” Chief Negotiator for AAUP-WSU and President of National AAUP Rudy Fichtenbaum said.
For nearly two years, Wright State administration and their AAUP-WSU have been locked in contract negotiations. During which, many of the articles have been agreed upon between administration and AAUP-WSU. The trustee’s terms and conditions accept all of the articles that were tentatively agreed upon, according to a press release by administration.
Since 2016, Wright State has been navigating a financial crisis in which the university was required to address a $30 million structural budget deficit caused by years of un-budgeted and uncontrolled spending that used $130 million in reserves. The financial recovery included three rounds of staff layoffs and sweeping budget controls and cuts across the university. Those efforts have provided some short-term relief to the university’s financial situation according to the administration release.
Wright State administration has expressed its intent to begin negotiations over the next faculty contract, effective in 2020, if the faculty union withdraws its Unfair Labor Practices charge against the university.
Wright State General Counsel and Board of Trustees member Larry Chan informed the faculty union that administration is willing to begin negotiations for the 2020 contract at the union’s convenience, according to a press release from the university.
